Tennis Court Oath

The Tennis Court Oath was a vow taken by the representatives of the Third Estate of the Estates-General on 20 June 1789, creating a separate National Assembly in opposition to King Louis XVI of France. The Third Estate delegates had been locked out of a meeting of the Estates-General and kept out by guards, so they entered a jeu de palme tennis court in Versailles, where they held their own meeting. The representatives vowed "not to separate, and to reassemble whenever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established," and the oath would lead to the Third Estate leading the French Revolution.